After fighting in the Great Troll Defense, the 4th years still had to fight a few more battles.

The trolls' raid had breached the safety zone leaving their academy wide open. This meant that monsters would push in and launch an attack from time to time. 

The Command's knights had been fighting crazily but their defense was still breached. The medium monsters were still able to get past their defense and attack the area where the 3rd year academy was located. 

But this time, the situation was unlike that of the fight against large monsters. This time, the 4th year students were able to support the knights. Their strength was more than helpful enough to deal with the medium monsters. 

The students suffered from some casualties during the process but fortunately there were no deaths among them. This was in fact the result of the professors and the knights' hard work. They did their best and did whatever they had to do just so no student would die under their watch. Even if they had to die in the process. 

“Everyone, salute!”

Everyone saluted under the roar of the Command's Knight Order commander. 

They were all saluting the coffins that contained the bodies of those who sacrificed and laid victim to the fierce battle that they had fought. 

Many of the knights, rangers and soldiers that were dispatched from Command either suffered from heavy injuries or worse died. And right now, they were paying their respects to those who had sacrificed themselves for them. 

This was also the reason why they couldn't celebrate and be happy even though they had successfully stopped the monsters' invasion. 

War would always leave a bitter feeling. And the same was true for the battles that he fought and would fight in this life.

Those that were left behind would always be saddened by the death of their comrades. But they would forget about them. They couldn't afford to be tied to their past forever. After all, monsters continued to flock endlessly and the battles that they needed to fight were still a lot. 

And the situation that they were facing right now was the embodiment of this. For them to stop the endless flock of monsters, they had to hide the sadness brought about by their comrades' death deep in their hearts to fight and stop these monsters from killing more. 

“You can now disperse.”

One of the professors ordered the dispersion of the students as he personally brought the coffins of his fallen comrades in the transport carrier that would be carried away by the drakes.

However, the students remained to send off the dead instead of dispersing right away. 

Experiencing the death of someone dear and close to them for the first time brought shock to the children. They had warned them that it would be dangerous in this place but this was the first time for them to witness so many people dying. The situation was still slowly sinking in on them. 

And to these students who blankly sent their dear ones away, the large monster tactics professor spoke solemnly.

“The things that you will experience in the future will be worse than this. You’ll definitely see the deaths of countless colleagues and you will most likely lose your lives too. After all that… I hope that you can climb as high as them.” 

The professor turned to look at the knights that continued to work silently despite their comrades’ deaths. Perhaps it was because they had seen their comrades die over and over again that their eyes had long gone dry, unable to shed tears anymore.

“Sometimes, heroes will be born in war.” 

The professor glanced at Jaiden before turning his head away as he continued to speak. 

“But never forget that before someone can become a hero, he will have to endure the pain of watching countless of his comrades sacrificing themselves…” 

The professor looked bitterly at the Drake Unit that carried the bodies of the dead. He continued to stare at them until they became dots and disappeared from their sight. Then, he gestured for the students to disperse and go back to the half-destroyed building. 

After all of the fighting had ended and they had done the proper courtesy and treatment to send off the dead, their next job was to restore the collapsed buildings and walls of the academy. At the same time, the troops sent from Northeast command moved quickly and dealt with the post-war processes that needed to be dealt with. 

While all of these happened, Jaiden and the rest of the 4th year students prepared to move up to the next grade. There were no ranking battles nor any risk of being held back but the students remained as busy as ever. After all, they needed to become stronger since the danger that surrounded them had increased as the forests that surrounded the Northeast started to fall into chaos. 

The area where the 4th year academy was located, the area where large monsters were located, had been sorted out to some extent due to the incident before. But the problem was the area where the 5th years and the lower years were located. 

Since the divine beast, the owner of the Black Forest, as well as several high-leveled monsters disappeared for unknown reasons, monsters began to wage war to claim their own territories. 

Confusion and turmoil spread not only in a part but in the entire Northeastern Front. 

Fortunately, the region where the 4th year academy was located had stabilized so they were able to build a temporary base and set up a front once again.

If the 4th year academy had fallen, the situation would have definitely grown out of control since the large monsters would definitely push forward and devour the area where the lower years were located. So they were fortunate that the 4th year academy remained standing.

A month had passed by with everyone spending their every waking hour protecting and restoring the academy.

After finishing part of the restoration, the commander in charge of the Northeast Command personally visited the 4th year academy grounds to give them the rewards that they had postponed due to their busy schedule. 

“Gather at the training grounds, everyone!” 

Hearing the professor’s words, the students dropped what they were doing as they all gathered in the training grounds.

After the war against the trolls, the students started to train like crazy. Perhaps it was because they had realized how weak they were so they devoted their all to training.

The professors did not nitpick on them for being so frantic. They wanted them to be the ones to overcome the trauma that they received from their first battle. Only then would they be able to leave the shadow of death and suffering that accompanied every battle and war. 

But this time, the commander and the academy dean came personally, so they needed to at least look a bit orderly and uniform. 

“You there! Stand up straight!” 

“Stand in lines.” 

“Don’t break the ranks!” 

The professors shouted as they sorted out the ranks and lines of the students.

Not long after, the dean came up and stood on the podium that they had set up in the training grounds. 

“Nice to see you all. This is my first time seeing you since your freshman days.” 

The professors and the students all stood still as they stared at Dean Randon, the person in charge of the Northeast Academy, on the podium. 

“As a dean, what happened here at the academy is extremely unfortunate and heartbreaking but I’m also glad that you are able to make it through and come out alive. I’m not here just to praise you for your determination and bravery.” 

The dean then looked around the people gathered in the audience. 

“You have fully demonstrated the mindset that one should have in the military. As your dean, I would like to repay you.” 

The dean paused, took a deep breath, and continued on with his speech.

“The commander had given me the permission to do so, so to repay your bravery I am offering you an early promotion. You will be immediately commissioned as an ensign and will be promoted after your senior year. Upon graduation, you will all be promoted to lieutenant.”

The students’ eyes widened when they heard the dean’s words. One might think that it was just only receiving a promotion after their senior year but this was an extremely big deal for them. It was a great honor for them since no one had ever graduated as a lieutenant in the entire history of the academy. 

“I hope that you will prepare well for the rest of the year so that we won’t have any shortage of ensigns.”

The students cheered as the dean stepped down from the podium. They were bound to be happy after getting a huge surprise. After all, being promoted and skipping an entire school year was something that called for a celebration. 

The Northeastern Commander stepped up on the podium under the cheers and hoots of the overjoyed children. The students immediately quieted down when the commander stood in front of them. 

“I’m Crimson Halo, the person in charge of the Northeast. I’m very glad to see some memorable faces among the crowd today.”

Crimson smiled as he gazed at the students. He wanted to give all the children present today a medal for achieving something unbelievable but unfortunately he couldn’t award that many medals. However, he was sure that most of the current 4th year students would be able to receive medals once they made a few more contributions and grew up safely during their academic year. 

“Just like what the dean had said earlier, you have all shown incredible bravery. Everyone did a great job in protecting the academy. But I heard that there was a person who had made a special contribution. Number 1?”

“Yes!”

“Step forward.”

Jaiden stepped forward nervously when Crimson called out his number. But the faces of the students behind him were showing envy. 

“You have made unbelievable contributions during your academic career. As a student, you have introduced new tactics to deal with the trolls and even did a great job in saving the professors and the knights in the war against the trolls. By my authority as the commander of the Northeast, I hereby award you with the Iron Cross.”

The students’ eyes all widened when they heard Crimson’s words. Even some of the professors had their eyes widened as they watched the scene in front of them.

Some of the professors who had connections in the Command seemed to be aware of this already but most of the professors were still shocked to the point that they asked those next to them if what they were hearing was correct.

“In recognition of your impressive contributions, I award you the Yellow Iron Cross. I hope that you will grow up to be a man that will make the Empire shine.”

Jaiden gave his salute to Crimson as he accepted the small necklace that he had hung for him. 

The iron cross with a yellow jewel inlaid on it was a medal that was unique to the Northeast. Unlike in the other parts of the Empire where they wore their medals on their chest, the Northeast made their medals smaller in the form of necklaces. There would usually be a mark engraved on the medal. In Jaiden’s case, the insignia of the academy was engraved on the yellow jewel inlaid on his medal.

The Northeast’s medal was also unique in the way that they awarded different jewels based on their officers’ contributions. They would start with a yellow jewel and each time a certain amount of merit had been achieved, additional jewels would be inlaid on their iron cross. The jewels were inlaid in the order: yellow, green, red and blue.

Because of that, they would only be able to receive the Yellow Iron Cross once in their entire life. 

“I actually wanted to engrave the Silver Eagle in the center of this iron cross.”

Crimson patted Jaiden on his shoulders before taking a step back. Then, Jaiden gave him another salute before turning around and returning to his position. The commander stepped down after giving him his award.

Both the commander and the dean left the training grounds after telling them that they did a good job. They still had more things to do so they only briefly passed by here to award their students’ stellar work. 

“Everyone did a great job. Today is a day for celebrations so I will be giving all of you a break today. Have a good rest!”

After saying those words, the large monster tactics professor turned around and disappeared. Once he disappeared, the children excitedly approached Jaiden.

“Wow… So this is the iron cross.”

“I can’t believe you received this already… so crazy!”

“What we received is also crazy in the eyes of others. We became ensigns and we will even get promoted once we graduate!” 

“I know. If we do well, won’t we be able to get a medal at the graduation ceremony too?” 

The students were filled with excitement as they stared at Jaiden’s medal.

However, number 3 looked uncomfortable while number 2 looked at him disinterestedly as she picked her sword up again. Number 2 was not interested in anything else aside from being strong while number 3 was considered as a quasi-genius so they weren’t that much interested in Jaiden’s medal. It was just a yellow medal and they could receive it in a few years if they tried hard enough.

But the students were excited because this was the first appearance of a medal that they had never seen and had only heard of before. And they weren’t the only ones excited about Jaiden’s medal. Even the professors were excited that Jaiden’s worth was finally recognized. The entire Northeast was also buzzing wondering what Jaiden, the person who received a medal, was like. 

As rumors about Jaiden slowly spread in the Northeast, the title ‘4th year’s number 1’ slowly became known not only in the Command but also in the frontlines.

“Ten years old… Will he turn eleven soon?” 

“That’s right.” 

A middle-aged man smirked when he saw Sky Renz, an elite and a genius that was recognized by the Northeast, speaking firmly.

“Interesting. Bring him in, he will be useful.” 

“I’ll get right to work.” 

“That’s right. Get him here before the Command snatches him from our hands.” 

Sky Renz saluted before turning around and leaving. Then, the man turned and looked at the report that Sky Renz had given him. 

“It will be good if I can raise him…” 

The eyes of Caeden Wall, the commander of the 1st Army hailed as the strongest before the Shield of the Northeast Crimson Halo came, shone like a beast that found its prey.

***

Notes

[Front / Military Front] – the line of contact between two opposing forces. The front line can be a local or tactical front. It can also mean to be a lateral space occupied by a military unit.

[Ensign] – a commissioned officer of the lowest rank. Ranks above chief warrant officer but below a lieutenant.

[Lieutenant / First Lieutenant ] – Rank above lieutenant junior grade / 2nd Lieutenant but ranks below lieutenant commander.

[Iron Cross] – a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia and was later on used by the German Empire and the Nazi Germany. This cross symbolized the courage of the old Prussian warriors that brought victory. It also symbolized the valor of the German soldiers of the first world war. However, thanks to this cross being a part of the symbol of the Nazis, although the swastika that was placed in the middle had been removed back in 1957, it has been connotated with negative emotions.

TL’s corner!

Tbh, I don’t know which military ranking the author is following. I think the author is following the US Army Officer Ranks though. So putting that into perspective, they have jumped over the 2nd lieutenant to become 1st lieutenants.